Biography

Dr. Kulick is an epidemiologist with a background in both neuroepidemiology and environmental health sciences. Her research focuses on two overarching themes: environmental determinants of brain aging and novel risk factors for brain aging. Using traditional epidemiologic methods combined with environmental exposures, Dr. Kulick’s research has identified associations between traffic-related air pollution on stroke, subclinical markers of cerebrovascular disease, and trajectories of cognitive decline in diverse cohorts of older adults. While factors that influence individual susceptibility to accelerated cognitive decline remain largely unknown, Dr. Kulick’s research has also begun to identify individual risk factors for air pollution associated cognitive decline including genetic factors such as the presence of the APOE-e4 allele. Further examination of novel risk factors for brain aging has led to studies examining inflammation, particularly respiratory tract infections such as influenza-like illness (ILI) as both a chronic risk factor and acute trigger for stroke and other cardiovascular events. Combining expertise in air pollution, cerebrovascular disease, and inflammation, she is looking at the short-term effects of air pollution on stroke and MI and mediation by ILI in the New York State Department of Health Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS), a large administrative database containing over 25 million New York State hospitalizations annually. This is the first study to explore the effect that race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status have on the inter-relationship between air pollution, ILI, and cardiovascular disease.

Education

• PhD, Epidemiology, Columbia University
• MPH, Epidemiology, Drexel University
• BS, Biology, Villanova University